There’s a saying in the lone star state “Don’t Mess with Texas” which actually started out as an anti-littering campaign but has become sort of a slogan for the rugged, no-nonsense way of life that people have there. Now with dead wind turbines littering the state, the focus on deploying unreliable renewable energy in the name of “saving the planet” has literally “messed with Texas” in a huge way.
Ice storms knocked out nearly half the wind-power generating capacity of Texas on Sunday as a massive deep freeze across the state locked up wind turbine generators, creating an electricity generation crisis.
Wind generation ranks as the second-largest source of energy in Texas, accounting for 23% of state power supplies last year, behind natural gas, which represented 45%, according to Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) figures.
ERCOT reports today the spot price for electricity in Texas is currently a stunning $9000 per MegaWatt-hour. Even in the high demand summer months, $100 per MW-hr would be high.
At the same time the freezing temperatures were driving electricity demand to record levels, ERCOT reported while calling on consumers and businesses to reduce their electricity use as much as possible Sunday, Feb. 14 through Tuesday, Feb. 16.
“We are experiencing record-breaking electric demand due to the extreme cold temperatures that have gripped Texas,” said ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness. “At the same time, we are dealing with higher-than-normal generation outages due to frozen wind turbines and limited natural gas supplies available to generating units. We are asking Texans to take some simple, safe steps to lower their energy use during this time.”
Source: http://www.ercot.com/news/releases/show/225151
A graphic provided by ERCOT shows the huge gap between electricity supply and demand today:
Capacity is expected to fall short of demand by as much as 20,000 megawatts today, while the National Weather Service in Dallas predicts record low temperatures between -6° F to 3° F for Monday night.
A map from poweroutage.us is showing the scope of power outages in Texas shows that about 75% of the state is experiencing power outages in varying percentages with a significant portion having no power at all:
At the moment, ERCOT is placing rolling power outages in effect to prevent a complete collapse of the power grid saying:
“ERCOT has issued an EEA level 3 because electric demand is very high right now, and supplies can’t keep up. Reserves have dropped below 1,000 MW and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes; as a result, ERCOT has ordered transmission companies to reduce demand on the system.
This is typically done through rotating outages, which are controlled, temporary interruptions of electric service. This type of demand reduction is only used as a last resort to preserve the reliability of the electric system as a whole.”
Source: http://www.ercot.com/eea_info/show/26464
It is sad and ironic that in a state known for its huge petroleum and natural gas resources, the lack of reliability of wind power has brought the state to its knees in a time of crisis, not unlike that which California experienced in 2020 during record heat where wind and solar power could not keep up with demand and was near collapse.
The folly of chasing renewable energy as a means of mitigating “climate change” is making itself abundantly clear today in Texas. When will politicians wake up and realize that renewable energy almost always equates to unreliable energy?
What the US needs is 24/7 dispatchable power, not unreliable wind and solar which fail whenever you need them.
Here is their answer in DC
New Bill Could Net More Tesla, Ford And GM EV Buyers A $7,000 Tax Credit (yahoo.com)
Great, Just what Elon needs, more government money supporting his business interests. That’ll help bring him back up above Bezos in the richest man competition.
“We are experiencing record-breaking electric demand due to the extreme cold temperatures that have gripped Texas,” said ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness.
Ummmm…. does this guy think that Texas is always warm as toast, or something? I was born down there. We lived briefly in Odessa and in the winter, it was so cold my baby brother wanted to stand on the metal grid over the opening for the heat from the furnace and got his little feet kind of too hot. The weather was, in fact, so abominable that winter that when we finally moved up to the midwest, there was also a blizzard going on in central Illinois.
I do hope that some day, someone with working brain cells picks up the reins of government and sends these idealistic twits packing.
6F today, wind chill around -18F most of the day. Some extra snow. I’m waiting for the final tally here in my kingdom.
Hey Sara, I’m back in calgary to a balmy -11 c today, so nice I went for a walk
Was in south Saskatchewan last week, Thursday I had to take a side trip, was -36 at 9am with 40 mph wind, -51 windchill
Hate that stuff
Didn’t used to but I do now
Wish the bloody planet would hurry and warm
Well, Pat, if it does ever turn warm, would you please let me know?
Snow is still blowing stiff and nasty and the forecast WAS for about 1/2 inch.
Suddenly changed to a forecast of 6 to 10 inches. I guess the weatherguessers misread the snowload/moisture in the oncoming cloud layers.
Ars Technica is saying that the loss of power is mostly due to gas and coal power plants shutting down due to their water intake supplies, which they need to operate, freezing. More details are needed.
According to ERCOT there is 30GW of wind installed
Currently producing 1.2gw
http://www.ercot.com/content/cdr/html/real_time_system_conditions.html
My math says wind is providing 4% of rated output
Do those also need water lines?
Correction, Texas has 21GW of installed wind, meaning it was at 5.7% last night, so much better.
look no further to understand the issue
That link can not be accessed without some level of permission.
Texas has a total of about 70GW of conventional thermal power available and yesterdays forecast demand was about 70GW. And yet today thermal power plants are generating about half the power needed.
Arse Technica wouldn’t know its arse from its elbow !!
A far-left propaganda cult.
Joe Bastardi and his team at WeatherBELL Analytics nailed this cold stormy blast weeks before any of the major weather models had a clue! He stayed on top of it and has been pretty much right on the money all along. He deserves a shout out!
Look at this story in Bloomberg which states that energy suppliers had to ask for permission to crank up their output in this time of crisis. What a beyond stupid regulation. … https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-15/pollution-limit-waived-for-texas-power-plants-in-emergency-order
This makes it more apparent as to why the loss of wind power had such a drastic effect on the total system. Fossil fuel systems have to ask “Mother may I”. excerpt: “The Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing several Texas power plants to produce as much electricity as possible, a move expected to violate anti-pollution rules that comes amid a deepening electricity crisis in the state that has cut power to millions of homes.”
They will probably end up being forced to buy “carbon offset certificates” or something similarly stupid…
.. to PAY for all the extra CO2 released.
I remember last winter when Strat warming sent a blast of Arctic air down through IA,WI, MI, IL, IN. I was driving the big truck on I-65 and north of Lafayette, IN where the high tension lines paralleled the interstate for a ways I could distinctly hear them humming even with my window closed.
The area of lowered troposphere shows the extent of stratospheric interference in the troposphere. High pressure and below-average temperatures will remain in this area.
Currently:
Forecast:
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/strat_int/
Easy fixed. Wrap them in electric blankets plugged into coal fired power stations.
It’s bad…
https://twitter.com/Wizard_Predicts/status/1361524864763453443
Weather channel model based forecast for February.
“February is expected to be warmer than average across much of the U.S. and that trend may continue into early spring: https://weather.com/forecast/national/news/2021-01-20-february-temperature-outlook-2021
The Weather Channel on Twitter: “February is expected to be warmer than average across much of the U.S. and that trend may continue into early spring: https://t.co/mnzRm67rGW https://t.co/UNyCLEFwRL” / Twitter
LOL! So pathetic. Almost as pathetic as the climate models.
“It is sad and ironic that in a state known for its huge petroleum and natural gas resources, the lack of reliability of wind power has brought the state to its knees in a time of crisis”
The will of ” the People”; like words, elections and a will they have consequences.
And oil price will spike some more. Can’t pump it without electricity.
all over northern Europe there are wind turbines… and they don’t get knocked out in the cold.
Minus 23C in part of Scotland last week…
I have no idea how Texas got this wrong: it needn’t have. There is I believe a long history of cold events in Texas – blue northers, is it?
It’s not just the cold, it’s the freezing rain and snow.
I thought even you could have picked up on that part.
Yep- they don’t have freezing rain and snow in Europe. Moron.
“45” is for your IQ is it little stevie
The UK have coal plants in reserve that can and are ramped up when there is no contribution from wind and solar. That’s exactly the solution TX should deploy before spending another cent on wind power.
sure, blame the victim.
and in Germany that Energiewende is working out so well
But installing wind and solar at the expense of RELIABLE COAL FIRED POWER.
If there are any politicians in Texas with even an ounce of common sense.
… I would expect to see a gradual resurgence in coal fired power stations.
People want RELIABILITY OF SUPPLY as a foremost priority.
Hail young James Hansen! He predicted the New Ice Age in 1970s, may be was right, only about 50 years out, but that is peanuts comparing to about 100,000 period of 90,000 years of ice age and regretfully we had already 10,000 interglacial. I feel a bit sorry for the Nordic wizard ‘little Greta’, may be she should move to India after all. (no /sarcs here)
Don’t fret … NY Mayor DeBlasio is sending some emergency dancers!
https://twitter.com/NYCMayorsOffice/status/1361169929328865281
“Emergency” dancing looks suspiciously like some of that wicked “spasm” dancing! (R.I.P Spike Milligan)
When it comes to that sort of “art” I know what I like – and I don’t like that! It really sucks!
Maybe that’s because I’m outside the US, but I’m forbidden to access any Ercot page.
This appeared in the National Review 4 days ago
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nationalreview.com/2021/02/u-s-offshore-wind-prospects-overblown-promises-and-blown-up-costs/amp/
Here is where the rubber meets the road:…
“But what is the reality of renewable energy? In one of his first actions as president, Mr. Biden has expressed the wish to “double” offshore wind in the U.S. by 2030, an ambiguous phrase that probably means he and his advisers wish to see twice the current development portfolio of offshore wind capacity to be operational within a decade, or 18,000 MW rather than the present 9,000 MW in an advanced stage of preparation. The attraction is easily explained. The U.S. already has a great deal of onshore wind power, 112,000 MW, subsidized through Production Tax Credits and mostly located on and around a line running from North Dakota to Texas, a broad belt characterized by strong winds, cheapish land, and low construction costs. Unfortunately, it is also distant from the main corridors of demand on the East and West coasts. Offshore wind along the coasts therefore seems like a tempting option for expansion, but is it wise?”
—So as I have been saying the RTO (Regional Transmission Operator) Area between N. Dakota is SPP (southwest power pool) and MISO. This is also where the wind wildcatters cashed in on Obama’s generous crony policies and built thousands of wind turbines which are now the cause of the rolling blackouts. And Biden wants to put more up off the coasts???
Don’t worry, after all it is renewable energy.
sarc.
No wonder poor old Joe likes an open fire, and I read that he even puts logs on the fire on his White House office.
CNN
Please excuse me throwing up now.
I guess warm really is better than cold.
Hard realities of capacity limits and resiliency in light of worse case scenarios are easy to brush aside when good wishes, bucolic visions and unicorn farts are in vogue.
Still not as cold as forecast here in Central Indiana. Down to 5 F at my place at 07:09. They forecast 6 to 11″ of snow last night through this morning, We got 3″ making a total of 4″ for this “winter storm” on top of the 5″ we already had on the ground. It quit snowing and there appears to be nothing on radar headed our way. I’m kind of disappointed.
There was enough wind I do have some small drifts.
Anyone able to address this tweet ?
@steven_harrell Ever wonder why TX has to do things like rolling blackouts during extreme weather?
The answer is because we’re the ONLY state that has isolated our power grid from the rest of the country in order to avoid Federal regulation!
LOL 17 states have announced rolling blackouts.
It’s also clear from the SPP statement I posted at 4:40am that the Texas grid is not isolated as the guy claimed
..as it says they were importing from other states and Mexico
I think it’s now fair to charge NPR, PBS, CNN, ABC, Pravda, the WaPo, MSNBC and the rest of the promoters and propagandists of the “Catastrophic/dangerous, CO2-driven anthropogenic global warming/climate change” CONJECTURE with having actually killed some people with their pseudoscience.